Lemon

Water

Rain falls about 3 irrigations (5 cm each) short in a normal year, so it's risky without water.

Needs about 820 mm of water here in its growing months. Rain gives about 680 mm it can use in a normal year, and 540 mm in a dry year.

Temperature

Grows best at 15–28 °C on average, and survives 12–36 °C.

Here, in its growing months (day / night):

• Jun 28 °C / 16 °C
• Jul 28 °C / 18 °C
• Aug 28 °C / 17 °C
• Sep 27 °C / 14 °C
• Oct 23 °C / 8 °C
• Nov 17 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
• Dec 10 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
• Jan 7 °C / -3 °C (outside its best range)
• Feb 10 °C / -1 °C (outside its best range)
• Mar 15 °C / 3 °C (outside its best range)
• Apr 21 °C / 9 °C (outside its best range)
• May 25 °C / 12 °C
• Jun 28 °C / 16 °C

Nights in November can bring frost. When frost is forecast, water the field lightly in the evening.

Soil

Soil for Lemon: 9 out of 10 (good).

• The pH here suits it.
• Many fields here are short of zinc, which it needs a lot.
• Many fields here are short of iron, which it needs a lot.

Likes pH 6.5–7.0.

Money

Yield: about 46 quintals an acre, the typical figure across India (no figures for your state). Government figures count it with lime.

A new planting gives its first real harvest after about 3 years. The money here is for plants already bearing.

On rain alone it gets about 83% of the water it needs, so the money here is worked at 83% of this yield.

Mandi price through the year (September 2024–January 2025, March–August 2025): about ₹8,500 a quintal at mandis in your district.

This week: about ₹8,250 a quintal, the middle of 4 mandis in your state (latest 13 Nov). At that price an acre would leave about ₹2.1 lakh a year after typical costs.

Prices are usually best in October.

Typical costs are about ₹1.1 lakh an acre: about half of what a usual harvest earns (2023–2025), as in farm cost surveys. They are spent whatever the harvest.